Rekey fee

[lokpikr999]

What do you think is a fair yet profitable fee for a typical rekey(e.g Deadbolt,Knob,Adams-Rite)?

[cledry]

In Florida if you have cylinder in hand with an operating key, $10-$15 per cylinder max. New cylinders only sell for about $20 so you can't go crazy.

If you go out to the site then charge your trip charge. On an Adams Rite I don't charge any additional labor unless there are a lot of doors and walking involved, then I charge additional labor.

[billdeserthills]

I charge less money, $8.50 to rekey a lock cylinder, when my client brings it in the shop, plus the new keys. I do believe most of my competition charges more though

[1mrchristopher]

I charge $15 per cylinder, $20 a cylinder for master keying. The first four keys of any rekey job are no charge, regardless of the number of cylinders. (ie. 1 cylinder = 4 keys, 5 cylinders = 4 keys) This is in addition to a service call. Those people who say that they can replace their locks for less are generally not people I want to go do work for anyway. I have pointed out to people in the past that the relatively low cost of their lock does not mean that it is any less work to rekey. Some recognize this and accept it, others huff that they'll just replace the locks themselves. Either is fine by me.

[Pintickler]

We charge 54 dollars just to come out, plus 12 dollars for every cylinder. 18$ to master key. Two keys come free.

[2octops]

$20 per cylinder and $5 per key for standard rekeying

[Just_4_Fun]

-service call fee + ...
-1st off, I DON'T use colored pins. Originals ONLY. They are more expensive.
-i charge regular rekey prices for Weiserlock and schlage+ end user rekeyables because i have the tool and know how
-rekey charge per keyhole $12-$15
-high(er) security $20, no discounts, (medeco pins are expensive to buy)
-primus at regular prices unless the sidebar or finger pins need cleaning
-i "may" agree to a bulk rate, 1-6 regular price, 7-15 $2 off, 16+ $3 off.
-i charge labour for picking if there is no key, like key-in-knob
-labour to remove or reinstall if it's panic hardware or if there is a lot of walking from door to door
-I charge per key (never included) because keys vary in cost, and sometimes they supply keys so that is a cost they don't have factored in
-i don't charge extra for factory original keys if I have them, although many prefer to get originals, a premium could be charged
-I charge extra for masterkeying of course $18/ key hole
-I may charge extra (labour) if decoding your key is a pain and you provide one lousy sample, as I will have to warranty the work and you will call
-if I masterkey but not to a random change, I may charge labour to decode a sample lock to follow the master key structure
-i charge labour if I have to fix your lock, and maybe if there are many needing springs and top pins replaced or need desperate cleaning

I charge extra if you lie to me.

[billdeserthills]

Wow Just_4_Fun, it doesn't sound like you are having much fun at work, and it seems like you treat your client like
you dislike them. All the better for me, and my business, I suppose. I don't see any trouble using lab pins, they have
been working for many years. I suppose if you use nickel silver pin tumblers then you would want to only stock nickel
silver keys too. I use brass pins, but I haven't seen much wrong with using nickel silver keys or brass ones. I only charge
my clients $8.50 per keyhole to rekey locks they have the existing keys for. I like to keep this price low, as I suspect it
makes my competitors price (and yours) seem unreasonably high. I understand most smiths out my way are looking for
about $15 per keyhole and I ask Why? Does it really take you more than a couple of minutes to replace the pins in a lock?

[Just_4_Fun]

Wow Just_4_Fun, it doesn't sound like you are having much fun at work, and it seems like you treat your client like
you dislike them. All the better for me, and my business, I suppose. I don't see any trouble using lab pins, they have
been working for many years. I suppose if you use nickel silver pin tumblers then you would want to only stock nickel
silver keys too. I use brass pins, but I haven't seen much wrong with using nickel silver keys or brass ones. I only charge
my clients $8.50 per keyhole to rekey locks they have the existing keys for. I like to keep this price low, as I suspect it
makes my competitors price (and yours) seem unreasonably high. I understand most smiths out my way are looking for
about $15 per keyhole and I ask Why? Does it really take you more than a couple of minutes to replace the pins in a lock?

From the last few of your posts I have re-replied to of yours, you sound like you charge like a retired person just suppllimenting his retirement income.
If that's true, please just retire and stop.
If you don't need the income and this is just entertainment for your down time, I'm not a twiddler, I'm hard-core doing this for real, and I charge real rates. So you're not my competitor, you're not a locksmith, you're a handyman hack, and you're nothing that worries me.
Go do plumbing and see if they welcome your give-away prices any better.

I charged $8.50 per cylinder back in 1989. The increase from that to what I charge today is double, but inflation has far surpassed that.

Colored pins come in increments of .005"
OEM pins are not in increments that match .005", that being weiser, schlage, and sargent. The majors.
IF you use OEM keys, or have a code-machine matched to OEM depths, then without lube, your keys will be clicky.
Mine don't click, without lube.
SCHLAGE, does not warranty their locks if they see colored dye in the plug pin holes. It's not a sales gimmick because LAB makes both, and there is a difference as stated^^^^^^^^^ above. AND nickle coated pins last longer.
That's known as quality & professionalism.

Continue doing your work the way you do. You're no threat to me. People like me don't mind that you exist cause you keep the cheap skates off our backs. When they want quality workmanship, or have a real locksmith problem, they will call us and be impressed.

Take care friend.

[billdeserthills]

Actually I grew up working as a locksmith, I'm not going to retire, so I don't need to charge people twice as much, like you
do. Yeah, you obviously couldn't stand up to much competition, not without your highly overpriced business failing, not that
your vastly overcharged clients would mind, heh heh.

You must be living in the past, bud. Nowadays you can buy pins in .005 or .003 depths and I have been rekeying locks for
over 40 years now, I would know if there was a big enough difference between oem pins for a client to actually tell the
difference between the two, sounds like You don't. I must say I think it's sad that you seem so negative about your attitude
and profession, I certainly hope you are a few states away from my place of business.

[cledry]

Don't want to get in a pissing match but there is a real and substantive difference between how many locks work with OEM versus universal pins. This difference will be most noticeable when you are using original manufacturer cylinders that are new and you are also masterkeying these locks.

One example I have found is with Yale, especially the #2 master pin, if I use universal pins the locks will not feel quite right, pop in the proper OEM and it works smoothly. Can you get by 90% of the time with either .003 or .005 universal pins, of course you can.

We do a fair number of systems, many are IC core Sargent, Schlage, Yale, Corbin and we charge more for working on LFIC cores, so we use OEM pins in these. We also buy those expensive little sprins for the control chambers on Sargent IC cores for example. They don't work well without them. Back before that we even bought the hollow driver pins for the control lug, glad they aren't required now!

BTW, the OEM bottom pins are nickel silver, not nickel plated. This is done for longevity of the system before degradation from wear. Any door that will get a lot of use with a key even when using a brass key should also get nickel silver pins IMO.

[Squelchtone]

Locking this thread till I get my morning coffee and get a chance to read it carefully.

Be nice to each other folks, it's the god holidays.

new guy, please watch your manners, I may not always agree with bill on everything, but I wont have guests to my forum talking smack to members. I know this is the internet and everyone's an anonymous tough guy, but we're all people, so take a step back everyone.

Thank you,
Squelchtone